Rick Perry: Tea party darling

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s star is rising among a new constituency — the anti-tax “tea party” crowd — in the wake of his recent endorsement of a Texas state House resolution affirming the state’s sovereignty.

The resolution urges that “all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.”

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The Republican governor’s public embrace of that language — a thinly veiled reference toward the conditions set by the Obama administration’s financial stimulus package — and his efforts to reject some of the stimulus funds have made him popular among the big government opponents who attended Wednesday’s “tea party” events across the nation.

“I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union,” the governor said. “I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.”

Perry’s April 9 endorsement failed to generate much media attention until Tuesday, when the widely-read Drudge Report announced in blaring all-caps, “WAKE UP CALL: TEXAS GOV. BACKS RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY.” Since then, his political stock has soared.

The governor spoke at three tea parties across Texas and had eight radio and television interviews scheduled for Wednesday. Perry also helped promote the tea parties in the days leading up to Tax Day by beating the drum on conservative Sean Hannity’s popular radio show, among other broadcasts.

During an interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, Perry directed protesters to “be loud and be consistent and keep sending the message to Washington.”

“They’re sending Washington a message,” he said of protesters in Texas. “We’re an independent lot and we just assume Washington not be mortgaging our future.”

Video of the Kudlow interview was posted on the governor’s reelection site Wednesday, just below pictures of Perry speaking to protesters gathered outside Austin’s City Hall.

“More than 1500 patriotic Texans attended the event to protest Washington's out of control spending, irresponsible bailouts, rising taxes and the overbearing encroachment of the federal government in our daily lives,” the post accompanying the picture read.

As a result of his high-profile stance, Perry, who is expected to face a tough primary challenge from GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2010, has attracted flattering coverage in the conservative media.

“The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, held a press conference to announce that he supports the House Concurrent Resolution 50 in support of states' rights under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. He's all upset about the bailout money, TARP money, the stimulus money,” radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said during his show Tuesday. “This is great stuff.”

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Perry, who is serving in his second full term, was also cheered on leading conservative blogs.

“Gov. Perry is doing the right thing — carrying out his responsibility to govern,” wrote a blogger on the popular RedState site. “Gov. Perry and his team in Austin now have an opportunity to really make an impact — and to lead Texas forward by circumventing, minimizing and at times fighting, the destructive policies coming out of Washington.”

Influential conservative blogger ALLAHPUNDIT followed up with high praise on the site, Hot Air. “It’s a dynamite stunt by Perry, guaranteed to resonate tomorrow and to raise his profile with the base ahead of 2012,” he wrote.